Children’s Book Author And His Family Found Shot Dead In Their Home

A Massachusetts children’s book author has been identified as one of five family members found shot to death in their home.

Police discovered two adults, Joseph Zaccardi, 43, and his wife, Deirdre, 40, dead, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The couple’s three children, 11-year-old Alexis and 9-year-old twins Nathaniel and Kathryn, were also found dead in the home. According to Joseph Zaccardi’s Facebook page, he penned several children’s books and sold them on Amazon. In an April 2017 Facebook post, he announced that he had published his third book, “All Mixed Up.”

The bodies were discovered after a family member stopped by the home to take the children to school, D.A. Tim Cruz said, adding that he was unaware of any “domestic issues” at the home. The deaths are being investigated as a murder-suicide.